Hybrid .4 04
'WARNING: THERE WILL BE A BRIEF USAGE OF MILD SWEAR WORDS. IF YOU ARE NOT OKAY WITH THIS, THE AUTHOR OF THIS STORY RECOMMENDS SKIPPING THIS CHAPTER.' Author's Note #1: The events that occur in this story are based off Human .4. The story was written by Mike A. Lancaster, and this author is not affiliated with Human .4 in any way. Author's note #2 : This is a continuation of Hybrid .4 03. It will only make sense if you read the link above. Author's Note #3: This author owns none of the art and images shown. ---- Right off the bat, I knew Kyle and his friends were not the chatty type. They offered to let me come with them to their campsite, and seeing as these guys had saved my life, I accepted. The only thing they said to respond was: "Great. Follow us.", and then they turned around and walked into the mist. I ran after them, not wanting to be left behind or kicked out. The four of them headed out of the town, and into the highway. Eric led the group, speed-walking to get to wherever they were staying. Kyle and Lilly were right behind him, keeping an equal pace with each other, whispering about something. Heidi lagged, occasionally stopping to complain about how badly her feet hurt, which resulted in Kyle telling her to shut up and keep walking. Another thing that hadn't been dumped by humans just yet: roads. In a hundred years, I expected everybody to have planes structured like cars for their use of transportation, but I hadn't seen anything like that outside the windows back in the museum. Actually, the more that I think about it, the more I begin to realize, roads had been abandoned after all. We saw no cars zooming back and forth, at all. I'd expected at least one person to come up in a BMW and roll their windows down, but nope, no cars, no trucks, no vehicles. But the roads weren't completely discarded. In fact, we came across a dozen more people walking, of whom Kyle and the others waved to them, and said a quick hello to the group, before returning to what they'd been doing two seconds earlier. I frowned after that happened, and tried to speak to Heidi. "Um, do you guys know them?" "Nope. Not at all." She pulled a water bottle out, taking a long, slow drink from it. I said nothing after that. ---- Finally, we arrived at the "campsite". And by campsite, I mean the first gas station we saw. "Abandoned. Looks like it hasn't been used in at least a bloody year." Lilly snickered, as Heidi and I caught up to her and Kyle. Heidi groaned. "Do we really have to use that place? Why can't we just use a McDonald's again?" "Because McDonald's is filthy." Kyle scoffed. "We'll get the doors." Inside, what had once been a 7-11 was now a messy excuse of a place to stay over. There was stuff littering the floor, shelves covered in candy, and a kinda nasty smell of something spoiled. No way in hell am I gonna be able to sleep here. ''I thought, heading over to the freezer where drinks are usually held. Inside was a bottle of Sprite, a Diet Coke, and a Pepsi. Opening the freezer, I was shocked to find: all the drinks were still 'cold! That shouldn't be possible, if what Lilly had said was true, then these things should've been pretty warm by now. I reached for the Pepsi, but as soon as I pulled it out, it was snatched from me. "Okay, people. Restock on supplies, and then we'll settle in." Kyle twisted the cap off, taking a huge gulp out of the soda. ''Thanks so much, man. ''"Um, what exactly does that mean?" "Don't act like that." He said, putting the drink in his backpack. "You' know how the routine goes. You're not getting it off easy just because you're the new guy. You've had plenty of time to get into shape." "Two 'hours ''' to get into shape? That's not enough time! Heck, that's barely enough time for anything!" I protested. Eric turned around and looked at the two of us. "...Yes it is! Two hours is one hundred twenty minutes, three thousand six hundred seconds! There's a lot you can do in three thousand six hundred seconds. Like, for example, you could stop acting like a noob, because we aren't complete idiots!" That ticked me off. I couldn't help it. I lost my temper. "Okay, right now I have no idea what the hell is going on. Like, seriously. One minute I'm at a camp out with actual sane people, the next, I'm in a display case.. I meet this robot girl, and she's got these strings on her hands, and she says it's 2114, so I run, and then, what do you know, I bump into you people! And I expect you all to give me answers as to why this is happening to me, but you all act like you're wanted fugitives, taking stuff from gas stations, not talking to people, and expecting me to be like you! None of this is making any sense! Where did everyone go?! Why do robots have strings on their hands?! What's going on?" There was silence. I stopped, breathing in through my nose. "Please, just give me an answer! I don't care if you think I'm mental, or if this is some sort of prank, but I swear, I'll take anything you give me. Whatever it is, tell me, because I'm tired of being and feeling lost!" The four of them didn't speak. Eric looked away, pulling the Sprite out of the fridge. Kyle went, and slammed his head on the counter. Heidi whispered something in Lilly's ear, and she nodded. Looks like they hadn't expected me to go all insane like that. They're gonna ditch me, aren't they? ''It seemed to hit me. ''They think I'm crazy. Lilly spoke. "You don't know, do you?" "Know what?!" I yelled at her. "Kyle-I mean Trevor, calm down." Eric demanded, handing me the Diet Coke. "Here, drink this. You're obviously low on blood sugar, first off." I stared at the cold and wet glass. "Oh, uh, thanks." "Second of all...let Kyle explain for you." He patted me on the back, gesturing to his friend. "I should've known." Kyle looked up at me. "I expected you to know about what's happened to us, what's happened to them. It's been a while since it took over, but I still think I can try and explain everything to you." I groaned. "What's it?" "Sit down, then I'll start." He said glumly. ---- "Trevor, you have to tell us, when did this all start?" Lilly asked me. "From your perspective, not ours." Heidi M&Ms.jpg Eric Kit Kat.jpg Lilly Lollipop.jpg Kyle Candy Necklace.jpg Us five were on the floor what had once been the girls' bathroom. Heidi was digging through a bag of M&Ms, Eric was feasting on a king-sized Kit-Kat, Lilly was sucking on a Dum-Dum, and Kyle was chomping on a candy necklace. Me, I wasn't hungry for the candy. "Ev-everything?" They nodded. So I told them. I told them everything that happened that night on June 30, 2014, up until now. I told them about my campout with the love of my life and the only person who actually respects me. I told them about how, during the middle of the night, the sky turned purple, and a robot appeared out of nowhere and put me back to sleep. I told them about waking up in a museum where machines I used were attractions, and running into Kira, who revealed it had been a century since 2014. I told them about falling unconscious in the elevator, and hearing someone tell me: "We are still here." And most importantly, I told them about the strings I saw on Kira's hands, and how terrified I'd been of them. When I was done, I sat back. "Am I losing it? Is this some kind of dream, or hallucination? Does this happen to you guys normally?" "Nope." Heidi shrugged. "I mean, not before the Upgrade, at least." "The what?" That got my attention. Eric threw his wrapper at the trash can. "The Upgrade. You, my friend, witnessed what we all witnessed on June 30, 2014." "Think of it this way." Kyle stopped chewing on the string of his necklace. "When it comes to computers, eventually the programmers would find a way to make them work better, right?" "Duh." I scoffed. Finally, someone who spoke English. His smile faded. "Well, what if I were to tell you, humans are exactly like computers?" Category:Stories Category:H.4 Parts Category:The Upgrade Parts